When Year 8 students learn about BIDMAS (which stands for Brackets, Indices, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction), they often make some frequent mistakes. These mistakes can lead to wrong answers and confusion in math.

Common Mistakes:

1. Ignoring Brackets:

   • About 45% of Year 8 students forget to do the math inside brackets first. For example, in the math problem $3 + 2 \times (4 - 1)$, if they skip calculating the brackets, they get the wrong answer.

2. Misunderstanding Indices:

   • Around 30% of students write $2^3 + 4$ as $8 + 4$ but forget to pay attention to other math rules. They should solve the index part first before moving on.

3. Confusing Division and Multiplication:

   • About 25% of students do division and multiplication from left to right. They don’t realize that these two operations are equally important. For the problem $8 \div 2 \times 4$, the right answer is $16$, not $32$.

4. Not Following the Right Order of Arithmetic:

   • Studies show that 60% of students forget to do addition and subtraction last, messing up the order. For example, in $10 - 3 + 2$, the correct way is to calculate it as $7 + 2 = 9$.

Conclusion:

By practicing the BIDMAS rules clearly, students can improve their math skills. This can help them avoid these common mistakes and do better in Year 8 math.